Breckenridge Industrial Park receives Michigan Certification

The Breckenridge Industrial, Technology and Agribusiness Park has earned Michigan Certified Business Park status, making it the fifth certified park in Gratiot County.

Certification allows an industrial park to be marketed by several entities like the Michigan Economic Developers Association and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, as well as making it a more attractive location for new business.

“The certification of the park is like, for lack of a better way to say it, ‘The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ in that you have all the necessary infrastructure for interested businesses,” said Don Schurr, president of Greater Gratiot Development, Inc. “Things like power, electricity, roads, internet capacity, appropriate zoning, they know that these are particular aspects that they don’t need to be concerned about.”

This brings in opportunities for expanded growth in Breckenridge. Locating in an industrial park is more cost-effective for business owners, who have access to necessary utilities on day-one.

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Breckenridge Village Manager Jeff Ostrander said the park has dedicated half of their space to supporting agricultural business, and is the only agribusiness park in the country, which he called a, “brand new concept.”

The park is also home to light industry and a benefits from working with wind technology companies that were attracted to the area after the financial crisis in 2009.

Ostrander said the land for the park was purchased by the Village when the country was still in shock from what happened that summer and worked with these companies when construction on the turbines began.

The park finished construction in 2011 after the Village of Breckenridge received a $240,000 development grant from the state through the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Eligibility for the grant was granted when Invenergy and DTE committed to building the maintenance and operations facilities for Gratiot Wind LLC., Michigan’s largest wind farm,

Because the infrastructure was already built, they had a place to be set up locally during construction and new facilities.

“It doesn’t hurt to be an diversified industrial park,” Ostrander said. “We have everything from light manufacturing of aircraft to maintenance and operation of turbines, to seed company to research agri-crops.”

The park is home to four tenants including Integrity Fab & Machine, Inc. and Stoneman Pro Services, LLC, along with the aforementioned DTE and Invenergy. Still, there is around 100 acres left available for new businesses to move in.

Ostrander said several companies have expressed interest in beginning construction this summer, but plans have yet to be finalized.

He added that if the plans go through, the potential exists to create 15-20 jobs in the first few years.

After five-to-10 years he said they could, “easily double that total.”